Plate Tectonics

Chapter 2

Scientific Method• 1. Observation (fact)

– This is a repeatable measurement or experiment• 2. Hypothesis

– One or more possible explanations to link observations

• 3. Testing– Further experiment or observation to test

hypothesis– Non-testable hypotheses also rejected

• 4. Theory– A grand or unifying hypothesis that has survived tests– Relativity, Evolution, Plate tectonics

1. Observation:Early Evidence (Wegener)

• The geometric fit of the continents. • The similarity in rock age groups

between adjoining regions. • The similarity in Paleozoic fossils

between adjoining areas. • The distribution of Paleozoic

glaciation in S.America, S.Africa, Australia, and India.

The geometric fit of the continents.

Similarity of Paleozoic Fossils in adjoining regions.

Early Objections

• Mantle is solid (Transmits S-waves).• How can continents move and

remain intact?• What is the driving force?

Compelling New Evidence: Magnetic Anomalies

• Magnetic minerals such as magnetite (Fe3O4) record Earth’s field.

• They also perturb the field by a small amount.

• Perturbations are called magnetic anomalies.

• Anomalies can be mapped using magnetometers dragged behind aircraft or ships.

Magnetic Anomalies

• Anomalies were first solid evidence of sea-floor spreading.

• Here was a credible hypothesis that demanded testing.

2. The Hypothesis:• The continents have moved

(drifted) over geologic time so that North and South America have separated from Europe and Africa.

3. Test the Hypothesis• The hypothesis makes several predictions

that allow it to be tested by further observation.– Rocks in adjoining parts of Africa and South

America should be similar in age and type.– Rocks on Atlantic floor should get younger

toward the mid-ocean ridge.– New bathymetric measurements define the

continental crust boundary. Do South America and Africa still fit together?

– If crust is being created at mid-ocean ridges, it should also be consumed. Where is the crust consumed?

– There needs to be a driving force.

3. Test the Hypothesis• Rocks in adjoining parts of Africa and South

America were age-dated using new radio-isotopic methods: they matched perfectly.

• Rocks were dredged from the sea floor: they showed ages symmetrically increasing away from the ridge. There were no old (>250MY) rocks.

• The fit of continents was revised using the edge of the continental slope rather than the coastline: the match was nearly perfect.

Rocks were dredged from the sea floor:They showed ages symmetrically increasing away from the ridge.

There were no old rocks (>250MY).

3. Test the Hypothesis

Rock terranes match in age and type.

Fit of continental shelf boundaries is nearly perfect

Test the Hypothesis• Seismic evidence suggested that

crust was being subducted (returned to the mantle) at convergent boundaries to balance crust production at the ridges.

• Hess proposed a plausible mechanism for the driving force that moved continents: thermal convection in the solid mantle.

4. Theory of Plate Tectonics• There appear to be 13 major plates

that cover the globe. • The plates can contain oceanic, or

continental crust or both. • New oceanic crust is created at the

mid-ocean ridge (divergent boundary).

• Old oceanic crust is consumed (subducted) at convergent plate boundaries.

There appear to be 13 major plates that cover the globe.

Theory of Plate Tectonics• Continental crust resists subduction. • Continent-continent convergent

boundaries form major mountains. • Ocean-ocean and ocean-continent

convergent boundaries form subduction zones marked by deep ocean trenches and Benioff Zones(deep earthquake zones extending to 670km).

Divergent and Transform Boundaries

Passive and Active Continental Margins